NWO awards Vidi grants to 94 top researchers

10 July 2012

The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) has awarded 94 innovative scientists a Vidi grant. With this grant NWO gives talented researchers the opportunity to develop their own line of research and to build up their own research group. Each scientist receives a maximum amount of 800,000 euros.

Vidi is aimed at excellent researchers who have gained several years of
research experience after obtaining their PhDs. The scientists belong to the
best ten to twenty percent in their discipline. A Vidi grant funds their
research for a period of five years. Vidi is part of the NWO Talent Scheme,
which consists of the Veni, Vidi and Vici grants.

NWO selects the Vidi laureates on the basis of the quality of the researcher,
the innovative character of the research, the expected scientific impact of the
research proposal and the possibilities for knowledge utilisation. Writing a
section on knowledge utilisation was not a compulsory part of the Vidi
application up until now, but from the 2012 round onwards it will be.

The researchers are free to choose their own research subject. In this way
NWO encourages curiosity-driven and innovative research. The subjects the Vidi
laureates will investigate range from the immune system of bacteria and a stem
cell therapy for children with a brain disease to super GPS via optical fibres
and competition between banks.

List of all Vidi laureates

In the alphabetical list of all Vidi
researchers you will find brief summaries of the research projects.

Many good scientists

A total of 652 researchers submitted an application for a Vidi grant. NWO
awarded a Vidi grant to 94 researchers. However, there were more very good
research proposals. NWO could not fund these researchers due to a limited
budget. These Vidi awards are from the funding round of 2011. In 2011 the
percentage of proposals awarded funding was the lowest ever for all three
funding instruments from the NWO Talent Scheme (Veni, Vidi and Vici). This means
that many talented scientists will find it very difficult to continue their
career. The support of talented researchers in their scientific career is,
however, a vital condition for scientific innovation. NWO therefore continues to
do all it can to encourage scientific talent.

NWO Talent scheme

Vidi is one of the three funding instruments in the NWO Talent Scheme. The
other two grants are Veni (for researchers who have recently gained their PhDs)
and Vici (for very experienced researchers). The aim of the NWO Talent Scheme is
to encourage innovation in scientific research. The NWO Talent Scheme has been
set up in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the
Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) and the Dutch
universities.

About NWO

The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) is the national
research council in the Netherlands and has a budget of more than 500 million
euros per year. NWO promotes quality and innovation in science by selecting and
funding the best research. It manages research institutes of national and
international importance, contributes to strategic programming of scientific
research and brings science and society closer together. Research proposals are
reviewed and selected by researchers of international repute. More than 5000
scientists can carry out research thanks to funding from NWO.

Further information

The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) funds top researchers, steers the course of Dutch science by means of research programmes and by managing the national knowledge infrastructure.